I am sad to report that we have lost yet another of our members. Quu passed away last night and is survived by his daughter and wife.

Quu and I have been friends for over a decade. We met in the IRC channel #fanfic on irc.nabiki.net ,where we discussed how AMVs were like visual fanfiction, and we discussed the beginnings of a-m-v.org with Phade. He was in large part the reason I am an editor...

I had known him for a while now -- talked with him on the IRC two years ago, and met him IRL that year when he took over tech ops for AWA and I was staffing. He was just talking to us again in IRC, and now this happens out of the blue.

It's going to take a while to get over the shock I'm feeling right now. RIP Patrick.

I first met Patrick at..ACen 2003? Maybe 2004? Supremely driven. I fell out of touch with him around 2007, but still saw him every now and then at a few AWAs.

This reminds me...

I had won an Iron Editor competition at ACen 2004 (well, back in that day, we called it Iron Chef). It wasn't until a couple years later that Patrick created the Iron Editor medals. For those who don't know, they're pretty heavy metal pieces with "AMV IRON CHEF" on one side and the contest's motto, "Celerius Difficilus Maius", on the bottom. The convention name is engraved on the backside of the medal.

In 2008 (or 2009...my recollection of years is pretty bad), I was at AWA's Iron Editor competition in the back room. I had heard that Patrick had called me up to receive a medal for my win in 2004, but didn't go up there -- it felt a bit hokey to me to receive a medal for something I did five years prior. (I had also ceased editing AMVs around 2007.)

Retrospect has a funny way of changing things. I don't think I'd find it nearly as hokey if I knew it was probably the last time I'd meet him in person.

I only finally have been able to talk a bit more to him during last year's AWA, which makes this news even more sad for me than it would be if I didn't go. Awesome, awesome dude and just simply a very pure and good-hearted person. RIP.

For those who are curious as to why, such as me, quoting lostboy from Facebook:

His wife thinks it was a heart attack. Patrick was actually born with a heart defect. He told me a long time ago that doctors said he wouldn't live past 30, so he valued every day he exceeded that prediction.

I wasn't very close to him and actually didn't talk to him in a year but we had a lot of funny conversations previous to last years awa pro. The contest system he programmed is amazing and i was really looking forward to meeting him at AWA this year. This sucks

My condolence goes with his family and close friends. May he rest in peace.

I saw a couple of Quu's videos back when I first started editing, though for the longest time I didn't connect them to the guy that helped run AWA's VAT. In 2010, I had the good fortune to be seated next to him at the AWA editors' dinner, and listening to him talk about the tech behind the scenes for con playback was an eye-opening experience, which led to me doing some beta testing for his new ConPlayer application. Honestly, one of the biggest reasons I was looking forward to AWA this year was to talk to him more about the subject.

He was brilliant, sharp, and helpful to everyone. He will be missed, and my condolences go out to his family and friends.